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FAIRFIELD, N.J.(CBSNewYork) — A Fairfield, N.J. police officer shot the driver of a pickup truck that was allegedly trying to run him down.

The shooting took place around 5:30 p.m., shortly after a concerned motorist contacted authorities to report that a Ford pickup truck was being operated in an erratic manner, the Essex County Prosecutor’s office said in a release on Saturday.

Fairfield police arrived on the scene as the motorist was trying to remove the keys and the driver from the vehicle near the intersection of Route 46 West and Plymouth Road.

Authorities said that as police intervened the driver put the truck in gear, rammed a marked squad car, and drove over a median towards an officer.

The officer fired his weapon and struck the suspect, a 46-year-old Morris County man, in the head, prosecutors said.

“I saw the cop cars and the cops out their pointing the gun pointed at the guy that was in the truck,” witness Tim Taylor told CBS 2’s Hazel Sanchez.

The suspect was taken to St. Joseph Hospital in Paterson. He was listed in critical but stable condition, a blood sample was taken by the prosecutor’s office.